Tis the Season

Despite the fact that the year has 12 months, the movie studio execs see a year as containing less than half that. The three months of summer and the end months of winter tend to be the only times that we the movie going public get the good movies, the movies that haven't been sitting on someone's shelf for three years, just waiting for an open weekend to sneak out and make a paltry sum.

Slowly but surely I will see them all, but thus far here are some of the major contenders of the season, with a few thoughts:

1. Jarhead
Many critics had problems with the fact that this movie based during the first Gulf War doesn't take sides nor does it go in depth about the main characters background. What I found is that the movie makes about point about these two items of contention. For the most part the soldiers are all very openly not choosing sides on the war; they don't care what the reasons are or whether it's a good thing that they are there. They are there simply to do what they are told and that is the end of it. Sure there are a few characters who do manage to question it all, but it is quite clearly not the main mindset of the rest of them. Similarly, the movie literally shuts the door on Anthony Swofford's life outside the Marines. We are told we will not see what has happened to his sister who is in a clinical facility, and that we won't learn about his relationship with his parents. These soldiers who are all essentially boys are trained and trained but never get called upon to do that which they have been trained to do. The movie can be almost claustrophobic in its scope, but that is only because we the audience are feeling the limits felt by the characters - the limits of their environment, of their mobility, of their information, and of themselves. Jake Gyllenhall is excellent as Swoff and Peter Saarsgard as his partner Troy is, as always, the consummate actor. The movie isn't perfect, but for a hard unflinching look at what war can be like for those in it.

Capote
The movie itself becomes almost forgotten in the face of Philip Seymour Hoffman's brilliant performance as Truman Capote, the high voiced writer embraced by society who eventually fell victim to his own talent and preciousness. Revolving around the events recounted in Capote's book "In Cold Blood", the movie is less about the actual events and more about the author's own processes. Two men killed an entire family one night and Capote decided to write his next New Yorkers article about the affect this had on the small town they lived in. Evolving into a book, the subject matter took hold of Capote, and nothing more so than Perry Smith, one of the murderers. Capote seems to have fallen in love with Smith but uses those affections for his own purposes and to further his ambitions for his novel. Hoffman never falters in portraying Capote as the catty and manipulative man that he was, but he also doesn't shy away from showing us Capote's vulnerability and desire for love and attention that seemed to never be sated.

Good Night and Good Luck
Like a good wine, George Clooney just seems to get better with age. In his second directorial outing, Clooney has directed this tense movie about Edward R. Murrow and how he took on McCarthy. Casting himself in a supporting role as Murrow's producer Fred Friendly, Clooney allows David Strathairn to shine as Murrow, from the very specific vocal tones to the ever present cigarette. Clooney assumes the best of his audience and doesn't spend too much time lingering on who Joseph McCarthy was and just jumps straight into the bare bones of the action. During a time when most people were afraid of sneezing in McCarthy's presence, Murrow dared to openly question him and call him out on the House of Unamerican Activities Committee. This could have spelled the end of Murrow's career, Friendly's career and could even have caused the downfall of the network. But Murrow and his staff stuck to their guns and helped bring down one of the more dangerous people in the US government. The cast is peppered with wonderful small performers such as Frank Langella as William Paley and Ray Wise as Don Hollenbeck, another reporter whose end is less victorious than Murrow's. But the picture belongs to Strathairn and the black and white film serves him well.

Brokeback Mountain
Dubbed by most as the "gay cowboy movie" Brokeback Mountain is so much more. Yes, at the center of the movie are 2 cowboys who one summer tending to a flock of sheep up in the mountains discover a rare and passionate affection for each other, but the movie is less a pornographic jaunt than a subtle and tragic love story. Because of the society they grew up and their own feelings of obligation to marry and have a family, Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhall) and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) never live the life they both want. Instead, they push their every day existence waiting for the occasional "fishing trips" during which they could openly indulge in their love for each other. As Ennis's wife, Michelle Williams gives us the portrait of a woman who suspects who her husband truly is, but doesn't really want to admit it to herself. Ledger and Gyllenhall are both amazing. They never get campy or engage in any stereotypes or allow their characters to become the cowboy member of The Village People. Both Twist and Del Mar are victims of both circumstance and their own hungers and desires. Directed by Ang Lee "Brokeback Mountain" becomes a meditation on love, desire and loss between 2 people; their gender is only a second thought.